My Knight in Stolen Armor
by hailey.n.campbell
Summary: This is collaborated by Besyd101 and I and a spin-off of her fanfic. A Red Noble. We all have a past- good or bad. Our past can determine our future...literally. ;) Allan/OC and hopefully, Much/OC
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note:

Hi, so this is a story that besyd101 and I had collaborated on a year or two ago. I decided to start updating on here while fixing it up a bit. Don't worry, we already finished the book, so it shouldn't have too many gaps between when I update or not. Anyways, it is based on her book A Red Noble (its really good, you should go check it out!) but it is much different. Red is different holding a sharp tongue and having a secret that is not in Red Noble. Also, Snow, Alexander, and Lolly are not in it; however, my main character is in it instead. I do hope you enjoy and please, take your time to read it and review!

* * *

"How much longer do we have?" Red asked, glancing over at her lead guard. They were traveling to Nottingham and Red was completely protected by her guards who rode in front, beside, and behind her. Her father wouldn't dare gamble with her life which meant she couldn't even ride a few feet ahead of them if it would have brought any danger upon her. And since they were going through a forest surrounded by hundreds of rumors, it didn't seem like anytime soon she was going to be left to herself.

"Not too much longer, m'lady, I assure you," replied her lead guard, keeping a careful eye on the path ahead. She nodded, feeling slightly relieved by the statement before the horses in front of her pulled back and thrashed their front legs in the air out of surprise. Red settled her horse, who had been startled when the rest of them were as well, and looked over her guard's heads to see what had caused the horses to become frightened. She quickly identified the source as a young man who stood in front of the horses with a large grin on his face.

"This, my friends, is an ambush," said the man, smiling as rustling came from the left. Red turned her head as five other young men came out, aiming all kinds of different weapons at them. The largest one of them surprised Red. He was awfully large compared to the small girl and she was thankful for the fact that he cared the least reliable weapon out of all of them- a wooden staff. Three of them held swords, while only one held a bow with an arrow already nocked into it. He stared intently, glancing at each one of her guards.

"They are all guards?" asked the bow wielder to his friends who shrugged. Red bit her lip, staying quiet as they all started looking at them.

"Spread out, will you?" the bow wielder announced, but her guards didn't move. They were her protection, after all, and a few bandits in the woods wasn't going to stop them from doing there job.

"We will not."

The bow wielder gave a deadly look at her lead guard. "Not just guards. There is someone in the middle," he said to his friends. "One more time, spread out!" Red caught the bow wielder's eye and sighed. He had spotted her.

"Do as he says," she finally announced, knowing that they were not anyone here to kidnap or kill her. They wanted valuables. Her guards turned to face her ready to protest but she held up her hand. "I said, 'do as he says.' The quicker we get on this, the quicker we will be on our way." The guards slowly nodded, knowing that even though they took orders from her father, they took orders from her as well.

When the guards had slowly separated from her, the outlaws took her features carefully. Finally, the man who had frightened the horses spoke up. "Well, if I had known there was a pretty lady here, I would have had Robin reconsider this ambush," he said, staring at her with a wide grin on his face. She glared over at him and he smiled innocently. "I was talking about the horse," he added, holding his hands up in the air. She rolled her eyes before glancing over the group carefully. They all were quite handsome and it was a shame that they were outlaws, but Red was quick to notice a young Saracen in the group. It surprised Red, since she had never heard of many Saracen outlaws especially in England.

"And your name is...?" asked the bow wielder, lowering his weapon in an effort to seem less intimidating. Red stared at him intently, feigning a look of fearlessness.

"Lady Ruby."

"A noblewoman," he announced, sharing looks with the rest of his group. Red nodded, ignoring the many chuckles from the members.

"Yes, and I'm sure there is a point to this ambush?" she asked and the now unarmed bow wielder nodded.

"There is, you show me all your valuables and we take ten percent. I think it is reasonable." He stared at her before she finally nodded.

"And then you'll leave us on our way?" He nodded while the horse startler and another gang member came to her horse. She slowly got off, allowing them access to look through the valuables she carried.

"I must ask that you leave most of the jewelry. It is a gift from my father and...its all I have to remember him by," Red had said, forcing fake tears to gather in her eyes. The bow wielder watched her carefully, searching her face for an inch of the lie. It was smart of Red. She had very little coins on her which was much less compared to the large amount of jewelry she had. He nodded, smiling reassuringly at her.

"I will try, milady, if you continue cooperating nicely." She nodded.

"Are you kiddin' me, Robin?" asked the bandit who had startled the horses. Red turned her head to glance at him in fake wonder. "Yes, her father wears jewels."

"I never said he wore the jewels, I said he bought them for me," Red replied calmly, irritated that 'Robin' (who she had assumed was the leader since he had been doing most of the talking) had bought her little act yet one of his gang members was harder to fool.

"Oh, well my apology. It doesn' change the fact that she's lying to ya'."

Red shook her head. "I would lie about my father giving me jewelry?" she asked innocently and he nodded at her.

"Seems like it." She snorted, turning her head the other way while shaking her head.

"Unbelievable. I'm not lying," she insisted.

"Do not lie to an expert liar, I can see right through you," he replied, gathering most of the jewels before looking expectantly at her. She glared at him while taking off her necklace and sticking it in his hand. Then, she grabbed the pouch of coins that was tied underneath her cloak and tossed it at him, hitting him in the chest.

He smiled , catching it before it fell to the ground and showed Robin who looked at it carefully. "Keep ten percent, leave her the rest." The 'expert liar' nodded, while carefully handing her back her coins and a few of her jewels.

"Just so ya' know, if it were any other man, you would've fooled him," he whispered as his friends got ready to leave. She stared him in the eye defiantly.

"And yet, that does not change the fact that you have stolen from me." He smirked.

"Now don't take that personal, it's just, well, business." His distracting blue eyes lit up with amusement as he raised eyebrows up and down at her before walking back to his friends.

"Thank you for your generous donations. You may all be on your way," said Robin as they walked back into the woods with Red staring after them. Thankfully, Nottingham wasn't too much longer.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note:  
Hello again, I decided to post again because I thought I might as well get a few chapters up here for you guys to read. Anyways please enjoy and don't worry! More is to come!

* * *

_Ten Years Ago..._

_Saffia watched through the window carefully, a look of distress on her face. Jesse watched her older sister carefully from underneath the table where her Saffia ordered her to stay. She wondered what was happening, Saffia wouldn't tell her as she usually did. Her sister never wanted her to be frightened, but when she constantly had to hide in fear of being seen by the crusaders, it was hard not too._

_"What's happening?" asked Jesse in a terrified whisper. Saffia glanced over at her sister and forced a smile on her face. She pulled a curtain over it carefully before walking in front of her seven year sister. She knelt down, meeting her sister's eye and reached out and took her hand._

_"I'm sorry, Jariya, but I have to do this," she said and Jesse's eyes went wide._

_"You have to do what?" she asked, pulling her hand back to stare at Saffia in shock. Saffia smiled sadly, shaking her head._

_"Jariya, there are men out there looking for prisoners. If I do not go, then they will take you and-."_

_"You can't go with them, Saffia!" Jesse cried, tears welding in her eyes lurching at her sister as she embraced her deeply. Her older sister did the same and it wasn't too long before she felt wet tears staining the headress that she was wearing. Saffia slowly pulled back, keeping her hands on Jesse's shoulders._

_"I'm sorry, but I have to. I will go out there and you'll stay here until they leave. Do you understand?" Jesse slowly nodded, wiping the stray tears that were falling down her cheeks._

_"Where will I go?"_

_"You'll go to Bassam's house. He will keep you safe and help you." Jesse nodded, biting her lip to keep back a throat-throbbing sob. Saffia glanced down at her sister one last time and said, "I love you, Jariya, don't you ever forget that." Jesse nodded, taking a moment to get herself under control._

_"I-I love-e y-you too," she said in a wavering voice. Then, Saffia grabbed a blanket and set it on the table, pulling it to shield Jesse from anyone. All she could she was darkness as her sister left the room._

* * *

Jesse couldn't believe it. After all these years, all these years of her relying on survival, she had finally seen her sister. At least she thought so anyway. Jesse watched carefully, hiding behind the tree as she seen Saffia walking with a group of men, laughing as if nothing had ever been wrong in her life. She looked far different, her once shoulder length black hair now was cut short as if she were a young boy. And if Jesse were any other person, she would have thought she was a boy if she didn't know that face.

Hesitantly, Jesse stepped out of her hiding place and glanced over at her sister. "Saffia?" she asked and Saffia glanced over at her and nodded without any recognition whatsoever. It didn't surprise Jesse, she was only a seven year old girl at the time while Saffia was sixteen when she last saw her.

"Yes, I go by Djac. How do you know me?" Jesse took a deep breath and closed her eyes, holding in all her emotions after hearing her brother's name. It had been so long, before she had lost Saffia that she had heard of his death. Now, her sister was going by her brother's name? Perhaps her sister was trying to pass off as a boy, but why?

"I'm your sister." Djac stared at her blankly for a few minutes before realization hit her face.

"Jariya?" she asked, leaning forward and staring into Jesse's face. Jesse smiled lightly and nodded.

"Yes, I go by Jesse." Djac didn't hesitate another minute as she quickly embraced her long lost sister. Djac's friends waited patiently as the sisters talked before beginning to question them. Djac pulled back from the embrace and looked her sister over carefully.

"You look so different!" Djac cried and Jesse smiled shyly.

"Well, it has been ten years." Jesse did look quite different, but in a good way. She was quite beautiful with long, thick black hair that fell about about waist length and wide brown eyes. Jesse felt uncomfortable when it was silent and asked the one question that came to mind. "How long have you been free?"

"We'll catch up later, why don't you have dinner with us?" Djac asked, glancing over at Robin to get his approval. Robin nodded.

"Of course, we'd be delighted to meet Djac's sister that she had never mentioned," Robin said, raising an eyebrow and cocking his in Djac's direction. Much, Robin's most loyal friend, glanced around at their surroundings nervously.

"Can we finish this conversation at the camp, please?" Much suggested and Jesse sent him a smile, causing him to turn bright red.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note:

Hello everyone! I know I really failed in updating weekly (and I've only posted two chapters), but at least there was already two chapters posted. I hope you guys enjoy this one as well and I want to thank Besyd101 for the help with this story and the guest review that has liked this so far. Also, thank you Lady Marian of Knighton for following and favoriting this story. Thanks to everyone whose read and I hope you continue to review and follow!

* * *

Red sighed, closing the front door behind her as she stared ahead at the green forest. She hadn't seen her grandmother in quite a while and upon meeting her, she understood why her father and her had so many conflicts. She was a headstrong old woman, opinionated and different. She meant well, but her stubbornness could be her downfall. She was sick -very ill, yet, she refused to see a doctor or anyone who practiced medicine. Red shook her head, knowing that the woman would be a lot of work.

"Milady?"

Red turned her head to face one of her guards who was holding an envelope out to her. She slowly took it, looking for a sign of who sent it. "From your father. He said to give it to you when we arrive." With that, her guard disappeared from view and Red anxiously tore it open, her heart racing at the thought of her father. Unfortunately, as soon as she managed to pull the letter out from the envelope, the breeze caught it and snatched it out of her grasp. Red witnessed as the wind carried it toward the forest which was only across the path. Without thinking, she rushed forward, determined to get the letter and see what her father had said.

"Hey! Come back!" she called out as if it would be able to hear her and she continued chasing after it. It would continue to drift every time she got close enough to snatch it and she wasn't aware of how deep she was getting into the woods.

* * *

"What are we eating?" Jesse asked when they caught sight of the camp. She observed it slowly, noticing the tiny campsite that had been set up in front of a tiny little arch of a cliff that was covered in leaves. Djac took a seat on one of the logs that surrounded what were the remains of a fire and hesitantly did the same.

"Broth," replied Much and Jesse's eyes widened as she saw that what she had assumed was a cliff opened, revealing a stash of loot and food. The gang didn't take much notice of this apparently since Allan made a fake gagging sound at what Much had said, causing the rest of them to laugh. Much narrowed his eyes and glared at Allan as he began getting ready to fix up something to eat. It wasn't long before Much had bowls passed out to everyone holding the broth.

"So...what caused all of you to live in the woods?" Jesse asked and everyone's eyes fell on Robin to explain. Robin was hesitant, staring into the bowl as he chose his words carefully. Finally, he looked and met Jesse's gaze to explain.

"The Sheriff despises us. I disagreed with him, so I help the poor as he helps himself. He wants us dead though," Robin said, investigating the slime that Much called broth with a spoon. Jesse shook her head, not understanding.

"That doesn't make sense though. The Sheriff is smart. He wouldn't come after you just for disagreeing with him unless he was able to pin other crimes on you as well." Robin didn't dare look up as he smiled to himself, stirring the soup as if he hadn't heard her.

"By disagreeing he means disturbing a hanging by saving the lives of the dirty offenders," Much explained.

"Oi!" Allan cried, quickly realizing who he was referring to. Everyone laughed, including Will who was included in that statement.

"Would you like me to get firewood before it gets too dark?" Jesse asked, already rising to her feet.

"I'll come with!" Djac quickly interjected, hoping for some alone time with her long lost sister.

"Oh, um, actually, I was using that as an excuse to relief myself," Jesse replied, heat rising to her cheeks as she felt a little embarrassed at admitting it. Djac nodded in understanding.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead."

* * *

"Got ya'!" Red shouted when she finally got hold of the letter. She quickly seized the letter and pulled it up to read; however, as soon as she began, she was interrupted.

"What are you doing in the woods?" Red jerked her head to face Jesse who was watching her warily. Red took notice of the Saracen quickly, remembering that it was pretty unusual for a Saracen to be on what seemed like her own in England. But then, Red was even more surprised when she remembered how long it took her to obtain her father's letter. She glanced around for a moment, seeing that she didn't recognize where she was and deeming herself lost.

When she finally accepted the fact, she turned back to Jesse and offered her a weak smile. She held up her letter. "I dropped my letter and the wind seemed to pick it up. It took me a little while before I got a hold of it again."

"Oh, I hate it when that happens! I was collecting firewood, since my sister's friends and I are retiring in the forest until morning."

"Ah," Red said, nodding in understanding before extending her hand to the new girl. "I'm Red."

"Oh, hello, I'm Jesse," Jesse replied, dropping the firewood in her hand to shake Red's hand.

"So...you're camping?" Red asked once she had pulled her hand away and looked at Jesse.

"Yes, we're traveling and still have a long while to go, so we decided to take a break in the woods. One of my sister's friends made broth though, and it was disgusting which is why I'm out here," Jesse explained, not stuttering at all since the lie came so easy to her and it did have a hint of truth. She was traveling and Much did make disgusting broth. Red nodded, finding it odd that the group didn't just spend the night in Nottingham but brushed the idea off as she remembered what was important at the moment.

"Oh, do you think you could help me get back to Nottingham? Sorry, I'm not good with directions and I'm not really sure which way I came," Red pleaded. She really wasn't and it didn't help the fact that she had turned left, right, forward and backward on her way here. It'd be almost impossible to find a way back herself after that.

"Sorry, I don't, but maybe..." Jesse trailed off, remembering that she couldn't lead the young woman to the outlaw's camp. It would prove that she was conspiring with thieves. But she couldn't leave the girl alone in the woods, could she? She was lost after all! After battling what to say for a few minutes, Jesse finally settled on, "No, sorry."

Red chewed her bottom lip before nodding. "It's fine, don't worry about it. I'm sure I'll be able to find it, I just better start before it gets too late."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Oh, well, alright. Nice to meet you, Red," Jesse said, waving her hand to her as Red did the same, the two of them parting separate ways.

Jesse soon made her way back to camp where she spotted the gang laughing around an already made fire. So much for getting firewood, Jesse thought as she dropped the logs near a nearby tree and approached them.

"Oh, I was beginning to worry," Djac said, motioning for Jesse to take a seat next to her.

"Yes, we can't lose our guest after all," Robin added, smiling genuinely at her and Jesse smiled as she took her seat next to Djac.

"What took you so long anyways?" Will asked when she had finally settled in.

"I was collecting firewood that was unneeded before running into this girl who I talked to for a little bit," Jesse explained, leaning back to ease her sore back.

"You met a girl...in the woods?" Much asked in disbelief. Jesse nodded.

"Yes, she was really pretty and nice. Her name was Red, I think. She was lost in the woods and I didn't help her because I don't know the way back and I didn't want to lead her to your camp. She said it was fine, she'd find her way back somehow."

"I hope she's alright," Will said as everyone puzzled over what Jesse had said.

"I'm not bein' funny, but what is with the color red lately? The girl we were stealin' from earlier was wearin' red and now this girl is named Red," Allan said, shaking his head at the thought it was a coincidence.

"This girl was wearing red."

"Was it a red, silky cloak?" Allan probed and Jesse nodded.

"Do you think it was the same girl?" Will asked, glancing at Allan's thoughtful face.

"Think?" Much replied and Will shrugged.

"Lads," John breathed, nodding toward a nearby tree. They all turned to stare at him questionably as he mouthed the word, 'red'. Sure enough, everyone caught the sight of some sort of red material flashing behind that tree. It looked like they had company.


End file.
